


When she takes my Hand

by sir_kingsley



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Female Castiel, Female Castiel/Female Dean Winchester, Female Dean Winchester, Femslash, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Masquerade, Misunderstandings, Prom, Promposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 07:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14689671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sir_kingsley/pseuds/sir_kingsley
Summary: Castielle is in charge of organizing the prom but doesn't have a date. Until one day she finds a box outside her locker with an invitation from a mysterious suitor. But there's only one person Cas truly wants to go with. The problem is: that person is her best friend, Deanna, and Deanna happens to have her eye on someone else.





	When she takes my Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This is a birthday present to my dear [asexualcas](http://asexualcas.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. Happy birthday, Bri!

Castielle groans and pushes her hands through her hair as if she can find the patience she needs hidden in the mess she hasn’t washed in like — god, what had it been? Four days? Five?

“I said the tulle needs to be draped two feet apart, Garth, not one and a half,” she calls out.

The boy on the ladder looks down at her with a broad smile. “My bad, boss! I’ll fix it!”

She looks down in time to see someone shuffling past her with an armful of white and flags them down. “Hey, hey, hey, what are those?”

Gilda looks like a deer in headlights as she comes to a stop. “Uh, they’re the flowers.”

Cas blinks. “But they’re tulips. I ordered roses.”

Gilda chews on her bottom lip for a moment, looking like she’d rather be facing down a train, before finally blurting, “The school said roses were too expensive.”

Cas feels her eye twitch. “Too expensive?” she echoes. “They slash my budget to a _third,_ make me move venues with just a month’s notice to a smelly old gym, and I can’t even have goddamn _roses?_ ”

“I’m really sorry, Cas, but-”

“Oh yikes, I knew I felt a code red somewhere.”

Cas barely spares a glance as her best friend sweeps in, charming smile on full blast and securing an arm over Cas’s shoulder.

“What’s the crisis, ladies?” Deanna asks and the cheer in her voice makes Cas want to grind her teeth.

“The school cancelled my roses,” she all but growls.

Deanna hisses. “All right, I got this, Gilda. You run to safety.”

The other girl doesn’t even hesitate to escape.

Tightening her arm, Deanna steers Cas out of the mess that is the gymnasium. There’s still so much to be done: painting the backgrounds, stringing the lights, putting the stage together. 

“Cas, I know you have a lot going on right now,” Deanna starts when they find a quiet corner. “But you can’t keep scaring people and making them want to jump into a black hole.”

“It’s not like I’m trying to!” Cas protests. “But there’s only a week till prom, the theme sucks, we have no money, and everyone is counting on me to pull some grand magical night out of my ass!”

Deanna’s lips quirk at the outburst but she reigns in the smile and reaches for her friend’s hand. Cas lets her take it. “Hey, hey, I know. It’s a lot. But first, everyone knows that none of this is your fault. They know you can only to do your best with what you’ve been given, which isn’t much because Principal Crowley is a dick. And second, I think the theme is cool as fuck.”

Cas snorts and rolls her eyes. “It’s masquerade, Deanna. It’s the most overdone theme of them all.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be fun. I mean, if we have to spend extra hours in this building outside of school, isn’t it kind of nice that we won’t have to see all these ugly faces?”

This time when Cas snorts, it’s with humor, and she punches her friend lightly. “Now you’re just being mean to cheer me up.”

Deanna grins and it lights up her entire face and not for the first time Cas wonders if the summer green of her eyes are actually glowing or if Cas is just crazy. “Worked like a charm.” She winks and that’s all Cas can take and she looks down.

“I’ll try to ease up,” she promises, looking at the floor. Which could really use a good waxing. She’ll bring that up with the custodian on Monday.

*****

Saturday evening, Cas finds herself walking to the Winchesters’. Deanna had made her swear to a sleepover to make sure she didn’t spend her entire weekend working on prom. Which was irritating but also fair considering Cas had spent her morning and afternoon painting backgrounds and the cheap candelabras they’d found at Hobby Lobby.

When she reaches the house, she gives a soft knock and lets herself in. “Hello?”

“Come on in, sweetie!”

Cas follows the voice to the kitchen. “Hello, Mrs. Winchester. Trying out a new recipe?”

Mary Winchester looks up from the cookbook she’s staring at like it’s encrypted and smiles at Cas. “I was going to make an attempt but I think I’ll play it safe and just order pizza.” She closes the book and pushes it away with great pleasure. “How have you been?”

Cas shrugs out of her backpack and drops it in one of the empty chairs at the table next to Deanna and Sam’s. “Not too bad. Keeping busy with prom and finals.”

Mary makes a sympathetic sound. “I can only imagine. Dee’s been out there all day working on a ramp or something.”

“A ramp?”

Mary just shrugs. “Something about a terrace and a ball. I don’t know. I’m gonna go ahead and order. You can go on out and tell Dee dinner will be here in about thirty minutes.”

Glaring with suspicion, Cas opens the back door and makes her way across the Winchesters’ back yard. There’s a loud roar coming from the work shed, followed by some clanging, and Cas waits until it quiets to knock on the door. She’s learned by now never to just walk in or she’s likely to lose an eyebrow or a hand.

There’s some more clanging and then shuffling and a moment later, the door swing opens. Deanna stands there, skin shining with a layer of sweat, tank top clinging to her body and her trusty flannel tied around her waist. She’s got her hair pulled back and huge goggles sitting on top of her head. It’s almost silly but also somehow the hottest thing Cas has ever seen and her mouth feels dry as a desert. 

Deanna grins and motions Cas inside. “Hey, Cas! Step on in and see where the magic happens.”

Cas follows slowly. “Were you… welding?”

The shed is hot and could use some better lighting but she can make out the array of tools lining the walls on pegs or tossed into the dozen-and-a-half tool boxes Deanna shares with her dad. This is where they work on cars together, usually some old classics John lucks into at junk yards. 

But instead of a busted engine taking up all the space, today it’s some sort of large rounded frame. 

“What is this?”

“Right now, it’s shit,” Deanna says with a sigh. “But it’s gonna be… this.” She goes to the work bench and grabs a piece of paper and hands it to Cas.

It’s a balcony like right out of a Disney movie with intricate balusters and a dark stone appearance. 

Cas looks at her best friend as if she’s lost her mind. “You’re going to make this?”

Deanna shrugs. “Yeah. Once I get the frame done, Charlie and I are going to mold foam around it and paint it to look like stone, and I then I can just attach it to the stage. I already took the measurements.”

“What? When?” She didn’t remember seeing Deanna in the gym with a damn tape measure and there’s no way Cas would have missed it because she’s practically in that room more than she's in class.

“When you were busy yelling at Garth about fake candles or something.”

“I didn’t yell at him,” Cas grumbles.

Deanna laughs and takes her blueprint back. “You literally told him to stick the ones with the orange-tipped flames up his ass.”

A shameful blush burns across Cas’s cheeks. “Well… they looked tacky.”

“Yeah, okay, promzilla,” she mumbles and reaches for her water bottle

Cas glares. “Were you ever going to tell me about this?”

Deanna nods as she swallows and Cas does not at all track the movement of her throat. “Yeah. To be honest, I was considering saving it as a surprise and having you walk in Friday and just find it there. But then I thought how shitty would it be if you put all this work into a dance and died of a heart attack the night before. So I’m letting you know now.”

“How considerate of you.”

Deanna’s smile is smug. “I try.”

Cas looks between her friend and the frame and shakes her head. “Why… why are you doing this?”

The smug grin softens into a sweet smile and Deanna’s eyes fall to the floor and she rubs the back of her neck. It’s a reaction she has often and it always manages to catch Cas’s breath. Somehow endearing but also heartbreaking because if this was a story, it would be a sign. A giveaway for Cas to know that maybe…

“Because I knew it would make you happy, dude.”

But no.

Cas breathes slowly and manages to smile in turn. “Well, thank you, Deanna.” 

They fall into a short silence, neither looking at each other. 

“Um, your mom is ordering pizza for dinner,” Cas says, breaking it. “Said it should be here in thirty.”

It seems to do the trick because Deanna perks up and makes a face. “Ugh, I need to shower before dinner then. I must smell like a lumberjack.” She sniffs at herself and wrinkles her nose. “Oh god, maybe even worse.”

Cas follows Deanna out of the shed and back into the house. Deanna goes to shower and Cas makes herself comfortable in Deanna’s room. 

The pizza arrives when Deanna is still cleaning up so Cas fixes both their plates and brings them back to the room.

She’s on the bed watching Netflix and about to take a bite when the door opens and Deanna walks in in just a towel. 

“Woo! That felt amazing!” Deanna says with deep enthusiasm as she moves toward her dresser.

And Cas just stares like a fucking creep until a glob of cheese falls on her lap and she jumps. She picks it up and puts it safely on her plate and keeps her eyes firmly on her computer screen while Deanna changes.

Once Deanna is dressed, she joins Cas on the bed and takes her plate with a grateful smile settles in close to watch the show. She smells amazing, like coconut and vanilla, and she’s nice and warm and soft and Cas is nearly high with it. 

The lack of boundaries between Cas and Deanna is like a blessing and a curse. A blessing because not many people allow Cas to get this close to them anymore. A curse because Cas longs to be closer with every cell in her body.

“You know,” Deanna says after some time when they’ve finished eating and they’re just cuddling. “With all this prom mess, I keep forgetting to ask you who you’re going with.”

Cas frowns. “I’m not going with anyone.”

Deanna sits up suddenly. “What do you mean? Hasn’t anyone asked you?”

“No.”

“But you’re the one organizing the entire dance.” Deanna sounds outraged.

Cas sighs. “Deanna, there are only like three queer women at our school and two of them are dating each other. I would never want to go with a boy and no straight girl is going to ask to even go as friends because they don’t want people to start talking or assuming things.”

Deanna pouts as Cas lays the truth out. “But you’re putting so much work into this. You shouldn’t have to go alone.”

Cas shrugs. Honestly, she doesn’t think it’s fair either, but it’s not like there’s anything she can do about it. There’s only one person she’d want to go with anyway.

“What about you? Have you decided who you’re going with?”

Deanna had been collecting offers since March. It wasn’t surprising. Deanna was universally beautiful with her long blonde hair, flawless freckled skin, and bright green eyes. And there wasn’t a person in their school who she didn’t call friend. She’d been asked out by someone from all circles, from the theater club to the third baseman of the baseball team. But to Cas’s knowledge, she still hadn’t accepted any.

Deanna sighs and gets back into her comfortable position, resting her head on Cas’s shoulder. “Not yet. But I have someone in mind. Someone who I want to ask. Someone special.”

Cas tries not to make a sound when her heart aches and instead runs through all of their close mutual friends who could have piqued Deanna’s interest. Garth? Benny? Victor?

“Uh, kind of last second to be asking someone, don’t you think?”

Deanna hums. “Yeah, but I think they’ll agree that it’s worth the wait.”

The affection in Deanna’s voice is beautiful and crushing. So Cas doesn’t say a word and just stares at the screen in front of her, praying for this to all end soon.

*****

Monday morning is a nightmare. Cas called Benny over early with the promise of donuts and coffee to help her load the backgrounds into his truck and drive them to school.

She can’t help but watch him as they drive. Of all their friends, Benny is probably the closest male friend Deanna has. The most “special.” Cas had never saw reason to suspect an attraction between, but she supposed now it wouldn’t be ludicrous. They were both very attractive people with similar interests. They were both athletes, very family driven, and loved food that would either rot their teeth or land them in a diabetic coma. 

He could be the one Deanna planned on asking.

Cas considers prying but bites her tongue. She doesn’t need to know anymore than she already does or she’s just going to hurt herself. 

So they unload the backgrounds with easy talk about school and finals. Cas pays up on the donuts and coffee and they go their separate ways for first period. 

The day is long and tedious and Deanna’s usually sunny appearances don’t seem to warm Cas quite the same.

The last bell finally rings and Cas makes her way to her locker. Every part of her just wants to go home but she has a few hours to put into the gym at least and then homework before she can just face plant into her bed and ignore the world.

As Cas nears her lockers she notices a crowd forming. Frowning, she forces her way through until she can see what’s drawn all of the attention.

There are velvet ropes leading up to her locker and resting at the foot of it is a wooden box. 

“What’s all the fuss about?”

Cas turns and finds Charlie at her elbow, the redhead looking confused but also ready to burst out laughing any second. 

“Isn’t that your locker?” she asks and Cas nods. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

“I’m a little scared to.”

Charlie laughs and gives Cas a small shove. “Come on, I wanna see what it is.”

So Cas carefully steps between the ropes and bends to pick up the box. It has beautiful gold accents and a swirling design and she takes a moment to just run her fingers over it. But she can feel the crowd buzzing around her with curiosity so she relents and opens it. 

There’s a card, just as beautiful as the box with her name is curly gold lettering. She opens it and reads the message:

_My dearest lady and angel_

_Who walks in beauty like a psalm_

_I humbly ask for your consideration_

_In accompanying me to prom_

_Should you agree I’ll have never known_

_Such happiness and wonder_

_To show you accept please take my gift_

_And meet me at 9 where feet become the thunder_

Cas’s hand is shaking as she moved the card and sees the gift. It’s a mask of black late and beautiful silver stitching and beads lining the edges. It’s stunning and better than anything she could ever hope to find at a Party City or costume store. 

She turns with it in hand and Charlie is just behind her. “What is it?” she asks with burning excitement. 

“I think…” Cas starts and loses her voice for a moment. “Uh, I think it’s someone asking me to prom.”

The students around her break into applause and Cas tries to hide her blush. She puts the mask and the invitation back in the box and awkwardly navigates through everyone and to the gym. She never even opens her locker.

*****

By lunch on Tuesday, Cas has spent pretty much every waking hour wondering about that box and who could have left it.

It’s just insane! Things like this don’t happen — especially not to her. She had been prepared for the ostracization that came with coming out two years ago. She’d of course kept her core group of friends — which in fact included the other two gay women of the student body. It was the rest of the school that changed. She wasn’t met with hostility but there was definitely a quiet around her, a little more distance put between her body and those of her peers, and definitely some… questionable means to changing in the locker room.

And it’s not like Cas had been well-liked before. Deanna said she could come off a little intense and occasionally conceited. Cas just wrote it off as rusty people skills.

Either way, nothing led to this possibility: a mysterious invitation to prom in what Cas is reluctant to see as quite adorable and romantic fashion. 

Charlie had kept calling it a promposal yesterday as they’d continued preparing the gym. Between Charlie’s big mouth and all the people who had witnessed it personally, everyone on Cas’s staff knew about the box and it was the talk of the evening. She’d had to snap at people more than a few times to get them refocused on their assigned tasks rather than her potential prom date.

“Oh, what’s that smile for?”

Cas blinks and suddenly Deanna is there, claiming the seat opposite her at the lunch table. 

“Must be dreaming about her mystery suitor,” Charlie sings as she joins them. 

Cas almost touches her lips, not even aware she’d been smiling. She tries to tone it down even as Deanna beams.

“What?” she almost yells. “Mystery suitor? What’s that about?”

“Cas got a promposal yesterday! From a secret date she’s supposed to meet at the dance.”

“Oh my god, Cas! That’s awesome! Are you gonna do it?”

Even though Cas had put the possibility out of her head right away, it still hurt to hear Deanna so happy at the thought of Cas going to prom with someone else.

“I-I haven’t decided yet.”

“What?” both Deanna and Cas screech.

Cas gives a small shrug and pokes at her french fries. “I appreciate the gesture, but this person is a stranger. There’s no way to guarantee it’s a woman whose actually interested in me and I don’t want to get my hopes up. How do I know it’s not just some meat head trying to Carrie me?”

Deanna and Charlie share a look. “You think this could be a trap?” Charlie asks.

Again, Cas shrugs. “I’m just considering all the possibilities.”

“Cas,” Deanna says softly and reaches for her hand. Cas hates when she does this. She looks up into those summer green eyes and tries hard not to face plant in her food. “Don’t do this. Don’t just run through every possible bad scenario and scare yourself out of this. Someone wants to take you to prom. You should be happy.”

Cas grimaces. “Unless that someone just wants to pour pig’s blood over me or hang me from the bleachers.”

“Jesus Christ, Cas!” Deanna gasps and releases her hand.

“Cas, I think you’re thinking about this a little too hard,” Charlie says weakly, looking a little ashen.

Cas looks between the two of them and frowns. “I don’t think you guys fully understand the vulnerability of my situation. Deanna, is practically the poster child of the all-American heterosexual dream girl-”

“Hey!” Deanna cries, sounding deeply offended. 

“And Charlie, everyone has known about you basically since elementary school and you’ve been dating Gilda almost half of our lives. You’re both loved and accepted while I’m casted as the evil lesbian just because I don’t smile and gravel every time someone has the basic human decency to say ‘hi’ in the hallway.” Cas’s voice lowers to a growl as she finishes her sentence and she glares at her two friends. “So please excuse me if I have a few reservations about receiving an invitation to prom from a stranger just five days before the actual dance.” She stands with her half-eaten lunch.

“Wait, Cas,” Deanna starts.

“I need to finish something in the gym,” is all Cas offers as a goodbye.

*****

Wednesday evening is a nauseating mix of relief and anxiety. All of the painting was finished the day before, so Cas and her crew were able to clean up the tarps and have the floors waxed last night. Now they have the stage set up and and they’re arranging the backgrounds to cast the perfect setting for a masquerade ball. 

Everything is finally coming together and it looks like they’re actually going to pull this off. 

And then Deanna comes through the gym’s side doors with Benny and her father and every instinct in Cas urges her to hide.

They haven’t spoken since Cas’s blowup at lunch yesterday aside from a few apologetic texts from Deanna. Cas hadn’t been able to bring herself to respond and she feels like an asshole now more than ever.

Their eyes catch from across the gym and Deanna offers a small wave. Cas returns the gesture awkwardly and watches Deanna turn back to her dad. They prop the double doors open and a second later, with Benny’s help, the three of them carry the balcony inside. 

Cas tries really hard not to stare and observe the way Deanna’s muscles tense and flex as she lifts her side of the frame — but goddammit, she’s wearing those cutoff shorts Cas loves that show off her beautiful bow legs and Cas is only human, okay?

“Hey, boss?”

Cas turns her head and finds Garth watching her. There’s a knowing glint in his eye and she refuses to acknowledge. 

“Yes, Garth?”

“How many sconces do you want per panel?” He holds one of them up, another cheap prop she’d gotten on sale at Hobby Lobby.

“Just one in the center of each panel,” she instructs. 

He nods and starts to wander off. 

“And remember they need to be six feet from — actually, I’ll just come with you.”

She spends the next twenty minutes watching Garth and Aaron install each sconce exactly six feet from floor level and making sure none of them hung crooked.

Once she could trust them to finish the last few on their own, she left and found Deanna and her crew finishing up. Taking a breath, she finally walks over. 

John Winchester spots her first and smiles as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. “Hey there, Cas. Place is looking good.”

Deanna doesn’t look up from where she’s tightening something and Cas tries not to feel it like a punch to the gut.

Instead, she smiles at John. “Thank you, Mr. Winchester. I’ve had a lot of help.”

“It’s really no wonder considering the tight ship Cas runs around here,” Benny jokes as he climbs down from the stage.

John chuckles. “Yeah, I’ve heard some stories from Deedee.”

“Dad,” Deanna whines at the nickname. “Please not here.”

John’s smile is mischievous. “Oops. Guess I better get out of here before I embarrass my kid to death before she even gets to go on her hot date.”

There’s not enough willpower in the world to keep that one from landing like a punch. “Hot date?” Cas asks says, her voice cracking.

“Oh yeah, she’s been talking about her amazing prom date all week. Won’t tell anyone who the hell it is but it’s got her smiling all day long. Been playing love songs in the shed and everything.”

“Oh my god, Dad!”

John laughs off Deanna’s horror-stricken face. “That’s my cue,” he says and grabs his tool box. “See you around, kids.”

“I’m gonna head out too,” Benny says. “Deanna, you good?”

“Yeah,” Deanna says, eyes on the ground. 

“All right. See you tomorrow!”

They’re left alone. Cas has never felt this uncomfortable around her best friend — besides maybe during her summer of questioning and Deanna stripped right in front of her because honestly the girl has no sense of modesty.

Similar to that moment, Cas feels like she can’t look at her friend, can’t say a word, without destroying everything she’s worked so hard to keep.

“Uh, the place really does look good,” Deanna says quietly as if she senses the same potential dangers as Cas.

“Thanks,” Cas replies. “And this- this looks amazing,” she says, gesturing to the balcony. “I really can’t thank you enough for going out of your way to do this.”

“Oh. Yeah. It was nothing.”

It’s the most Deanna response Cas has ever heard.

“So you- you asked your date.”

“Hmm?”

“To prom,” Cas clarifies. “You asked your prom date out?”

Deanna clears her throat. “Uh, yeah. I did.”

Cas nods her head. They’re still not looking at each other and she feels ridiculous. “Well, that’s good. I’m glad.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Deanna says roughly. “And, uh, about yours… I, uh.” 

Cas hears Deanna take a deep breath and then feels a warm hand slipping into hers and she finally looks up. Deanna is looking right at her, meeting her eyes and it’s too much and Cas wants to run away and lean in and just risk it all.

“Cas, I’m really sorry about yesterday.” 

Cas shakes her head because this isn’t what she wants to talk about right now with Deanna’s hands in her and her lips just a few inches away. “It’s fine. I’m sorry for blowing up at you-”

“No, let me,” Deanna pleads. “I was an ass and I wasn’t thinking about you. I know this is harder for you — it shouldn’t be, but it is and I’m sorry for not being more understanding.”

Cas wants to just wave it off but knows it won’t do either of them any good. So she says, “Thank you,” and offers a smile.

Deanna grins back. “Any time. Guess I should let you get back to work.”

Cas looks over her shoulder at her crew running around and sighs. “Yeah.”

Deanna squeezes her hand. “I’ll see you later, ‘kay?”

Cas squeezes back. “Okay.”

*****  
Thursday feels quiet and fragile. 

Deanna seems to be lingering around more than usual, popping up at times Cas isn’t used to seeing her. And she has this soft smile and there are gentle touches and special gazes and it’s completely disorienting and more than wonderful.

Cas has dreamed of something like this for years, being the center of Deanna’s world. Having wordless permission to touch and stare and love proudly and loudly.

It’s everything she could want and and for whatever reason today she has it.

And it hurts.

Because nothing has really changed. Deanna isn’t confessing her love, she’s not saying that she’s wanted to be more than friends for years now or that she’s realized what her feelings for Cas really mean and she’s not asking Cas to go to prom. They’re not holding hands down the halls or kissing. 

They’re just friends.

And they’ll stay friends until life finally makes them separate and they drift apart until they’re just a fond memory of easier times.

This isn’t love. It’s not a romance.

Deanna has someone “special” and she’s taking them to prom. 

All Cas has is a pretty mask and an anonymous offer. 

“So have you decided if you’re going to meet your secret admirer or not?” Deanna asks as they leave the gym that evening.

Everything is finished. They’ll spend a few hours tomorrow cleaning up and won’t see it again until Saturday night.

Saturday when Deanna will arrive and stand on that balcony she built with someone else and Cas will…

“No.”

Deanna looks at her. “No, like you still haven’t decided?”

“I’m not going to go.”

“Oh.” 

She registers the disappointment in Deanna’s voice but chooses not to internalize it.

“Why not?”

Cas sighs. “I don’t think I’m going to go at all.”

“Wait, like to prom?”

“Yes.”

Deanna stops moving and reaches out for Cas to stop her. “Why?” she asks, and it almost sounds desperate. 

Cas avoids her eyes, not wanting to betray any information she wasn’t ready to share. “I don’t want to go anymore.”

“B-but why?”

“I don’t know, Deanna. It just… doesn’t feel special anymore.”

“But everything you’ve done-”

“Has made these last few weeks the most stressful time of my life,” Cas interrupts. 

“Exactly!” Deanna cries. “So don’t you think you deserve to enjoy it? You did all of this, Cas.”

Cas squints at her. “Why does it matter so much to you? It’s not like we’re going together.”

Deanna reels back. “I-I don’t- I just don’t want for all of your hard work to go to waste.”

“It won’t. Everyone else will have a great time.”

“But you-”

Cas holds up a hand and closes her eyes, past her limit. “Please. I’m tired, Deanna. I just want to be done with it.”

Deanna doesn’t respond, still staring almost dumbfounded, and slowly deflates, arms dropping to her sides. Defeated. “Okay, Cas.”

They hesitate before both heading to Deanna’s car. They don’t speak as Deanna drops Cas off at home, barely say a goodbye when Cas climbs out.

She gets up to her room and falls on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just broken something beyond repair.

*****

It rains on Friday. It’s the perfect setting for how Cas feels walking into the school.

Everyone else seems to be buzzing, the seniors excited for tomorrow and chatting about their beautiful outfits and how they’re going to style their hair. 

Cas tries to drown it out and go about her day.

She notices Deanna’s absence almost right away but doesn’t seek her out. It somehow feels right that they’re avoiding each other and Cas doesn’t have the energy to try to fix it.

She’s the first to arrive for lunch and snags the usual table. Charlie and Gilda and Benny find her a few minutes later.

“Hey, have you seen, Deanna?” Charlie asks around bites of her pizza.

“No.”

“Hmm, I wonder where she’s been hiding. Benny, you seen her?”

“Nope.”

Cas frowns. “You mean none of you have seen her all day?”

The three shake their heads.

Cas feels worry creep into her chest and squeeze her lungs. It’s not like Deanna to skip school. Could it have been because of their conversation yesterday?

Cas glances at a clock bids her time. With just a few minutes to go, she takes one more bite of her lunch and stands. “I gotta go.”

She tosses her trash and hurries into the hallway as the bell rings. She catches sight of a shock of shaggy brown hair and runs to tap them on the shoulder.

Sam Winchester turns around with a frown but smiles when he recognizes Cas. “Hey, Cas!”

“Hi, Sam. Uh, where is your sister?”

The younger teen’s frown returns. “Mom and Dad let her stay home today.”

“Is she sick?”

Sam shrugs. “Dad woke up and found her in the shed tearing up an old hood.”

Cas’s stomach sinks. “Did- did she say what was wrong?”

She can see the worry in Sam’s hazel eyes as he moves closer. “We think her date dumped her. She was super upset last night but after this morning, we were all a little scared to ask questions. So Mom and Dad agreed to let her skip. Mental health day, I think.”

Cas has no idea how to respond. She can’t imagine how Deanna must be feeling after having that fight with Cas and then going home and her date who she’d been so excited to ask backing out. 

“Hey, I have to get to lunch,” Sam says, squeezing Cas’s hand. He’s more like his sister than he’ll ever realize. “But you should talk to her. You always seem to be able to make her feel better.”

He disappears into the rushing crowd before Cas can say anything.

After a lot of back and forth, Cas decides to follow Sam’s suggestion and talk to Deanna. She starts by sending a text later that afternoon. There’s no immediate response, which Cas had expected, but she gives it more time.

When there’s still no message from Deanna by the time school ends, she starts to feel the worry squeezing on her chest again. 

“You okay, boss?”

Cas looks blankly at Garth who isn’t smiling for once.   
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

He inches closer. “You know, if you need to get out of here, we can take care of the rest of this.”

She shakes her head immediately. “No, it’s fine. I need to-”

“Cas,” he cuts her off with was is probably the most stern tone she’s ever heard out of her classmate who still swears by sock puppets and gives out hugs like free candy. “We can handle cleaning up without you here to guide us. Go take care of your business.”

Cas doesn’t move at first, torn between her responsibility and her friend. But in a way, Deanna is her responsibility too. 

She hands her clipboard over. “Thanks, Garth.”

“No problemo.”

She drives to the Winchesters’ and invites herself inside like usual. Deanna is out back again and there’s loud music coming from the shed.

_Been playing love songs in the shed and everything._

John’s words echo in her head and her body aches. Her best friend’s heart had been broken and Cas hadn’t been here for her.  
She knocks on the door but it’s clear that over the music and the clanging Deanna isn’t going to be able to hear her, so she carefully opens the door.

Deanna has her hair pulled into a chaotic bun on top of her head. There are no safety goggles this time and she has a sledge hammer and is going to town on a beat up Camaro. 

“Deanna!” she calls out but gets nothing.

Cas slides her way over to the radio and cuts the music. Deanna jerks mid-swing and turns around.

“Cas? What are you doing here?”

“I was told you were destroying things and thought I’d check in.”

Deanna looks at the hammer in her hands and slowly puts it down. “I’m fine,” she says and fiddles with her water bottle.

Cas watches her for a moment and arches a brow. “So skipping school to batter a car is typical behavior you’ve just been keeping from me for ten years?”

When Deanna looks up, her eyes are tired and wary. It wipes away any sense of confidence Cas had going into this. She’s never seen that expression on her friend before. It’s almost like looking at a stranger and she doesn’t know how approach her. 

“I’m fine, Cas,” Deanna repeats and drinks her water.

Cas may not know what to do but she’s not going to just give up. “Is this about prom?”

“What?”

“Sam said your prom date may have backed out on you. Is that true?”

Fire flashes through Deanna’s eyes for a second and Cas figures Sam will be in for it later. “It doesn’t matter, Cas.”

“Of course it matters, Deanna. You’re clearly upset about this.”

Deanna fumes. “I’m not upset. It just-” She takes a deep breath and tries to calm herself. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going.”

“What?” Cas almost shrieks. 

She watches Deanna spin around and start cleaning up her mess. There’s broken glass and tools thrown all around the shed. She carefully navigates the area to follow behind her friend.

“What do you mean you’re not going?” she demands.

“Just what I said. I’m not going.”

“But why? Is it because of your date?”

“No, Cas.”

Cas chews her lip. “Is it because of me?”

“What?” Deanna spins around. “Cas, no. I just don’t want to anymore. And you’re not going either so why do you even care?”

The question is shocking and Cas tilts her head. “Because you’re my best friend,” she says as if it’s obvious. And really by now it should be.

Deanna sighs and leans against the broken car. “I can’t do this, Cas.” Even though it’s addressed toward Cas, the way Deanna says it with her chin tucked into her chest is as if she’s speaking to herself. 

Cas’s heart reaches out for her but she keeps her hands by her sides. Her friend looks shattered and Cas would kill the person who did this if she could. All she can do is try to mend some of the pieces and get her friend through the next few days.

“I’ll go.”

Cas doesn’t register the words as her own until Deanna looks up and asks, “What?”

Cas takes a breath. “I’ll go if you go.” Deanna continues to stare and Cas squirms a little, feeling that damn blush run into her cheeks again. “I-I mean, we don’t have to go together. Not like a date or anything like that. But if you’re there then I’ll be there too. And we can make fun of the way people dance together and guess who got high in the parking lot before coming in.” She tries for a smile. “What do you say?”

There’s no change to Deanna’s face for a minute, but slowly her lips twitch and she laughs softly. “I think that’s the best promposal I’ve ever heard.”

Cas throws back her head and laughs. 

Deanna stands and steps closer. “Okay, Cas. I’ll be there if you’ll be there.”

*****

All of Saturday is dedicated to getting read for the dance. 

Cas’s mom was smart enough not to cancel any of her appointments and Cas spends hours in a chair with a strange woman pulling and burning her hair and spraying it with shit until even an explosion couldn’t budge a single strand. 

They get their nails done and then her mom hovers around while Cas has her makeup done because lord knows she could never be trusted to do this shit herself. 

It’s about ten times too much for Cas and she barley recognizes herself in the mirror when it’s all done. She wants to feel silly but she can barely keep the smile off her face and her mother is an absolute mess by the time she has her dress on and is ready to go.

Cas gets to the school early and helps set up the ticket collection table. She greets students as they arrive and shows them into the gymnasium. She checks on the photographers and the refreshments table a few times, satisfied that everything is going smoothly.

The only thing wrong is that it’s been an hour an there’s been so sign of Deanna. 

Charlie and Gilda show up fashionably late as per usual. Gilda looks lovely in her gold dress and Charlie is as sharp as they come in a black suit. They remove their masks and speak with Cas for a moment.

“Have you heard from Deanna?” she can’t help but ask.

“Not since this morning,” Charlie says. “She was freaking out about what to do with her hair.”

“She isn’t here yet?” Gilda asks.

Cas shakes her head.

“I’m sure she’ll be here,” Charlie consoles. “She’s not one to miss a good party. Hey, you gonna go meet that mystery person?”

In all this mess with Deanna the last few days, Cas had nearly forgotten about her promposal.

Gilda looks at the clock and grins. “Oh yeah! It’s almost nine, Cas!”

Cas frowns. “I don’t know. I just…”

Charlie touches her shoulder, drawing Cas’s attention. Her expression is soft but there’s something almost pleading in her eyes. “You should go, Cas. Trust me.”

Cas squints but before she can ask anything Charlie and Gilda sweep into the gym. 

Cas watches the clock for the next few minutes, stomach in turmoil. Still no sign of Deanna and if she’s going to go then she needs to do it now.

“Oh fuck it,” she says under her breath.

She excuses herself from the table and makes her way outside and across the parking lot.

_Meet me at nine where feet become the thunder._

It wasn’t the hard to figure out. She still remembers the first time she attended one of Deanna’s soccer games and how the crowd had stomped on the bleachers, building a roar that vibrated through her body. 

Deanna had made two goals that night and when they’d met up afterward, Deanna still in her uniform which was clinging to her everywhere it could and her eyes still bright with victory and adrenaline, she told Cas how she loved knowing Cas was there, part of the thunder. Cas has hardly missed a game since.

She stands under the bleachers now, waiting for a noise to signal someone else is here. It’s silent for several minutes, just the soft echo of the music coming from the gym.

Then she hears a creek above her and something like a sigh. The metal of the bleachers shakes with footsteps going the opposite direction. Like they’re leaving.

Summoning all of her courage with one breath, Cas climbs the stairs.

“Hey!”

The body moving away freezes. Cas frowns at their figure and takes a few tentative steps toward them. She thinks she can make out light hair and the person is obviously in a suit but they’re very small for a man.

The figure turns around. They’re of course wearing a mask, dark maroon like their suit and they start to come closer and Cas is shocked to find that this is definitely not a man.

“Deanna?”

They freeze. And then remove their masks and the most familiar face looks at Cas bewildered. “How did you know it was me?”

“You really didn’t think I would recognize your legs?” Cas asks as fury floods through her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Uh, I told you to meet me here.”

“No, this is where I’m supposed to meet the mystery person.”

Deanna crosses the remaining yards between them and smiles. “Yeah, I know.”

Cas sputters, confused and a little hurt. Was this a prank after all? But instead of some random asshole, it’s her best friend? Oh god, and all week she’d been telling Deanna how scared she was when this whole time-

Deanna takes her hand before Cas can finish the thought and shakes her head. “No, Cas. It’s not a prank.”

“But you-you had a special person and I-I-”

“You are the special person, dummy.” Deanna takes her other hand and squeezes them both between them. “You’re the one I wanted to ask to prom.”

Cas’s head is spinning and her heart feels like it’s trying to beat out of her chest. “You- this- I’m not- but... but why?” she finally gets out.

Deanna snorts a laugh and rolls her eyes, but when she refocuses on Cas everything about the way she looks at her friend is soft and reverent. “Because I love you.”

Cas can’t respond to that, her throat closing up as she just takes in the words and lets her body expand with them. It’s like blacking out for a moment and when she comes to her eyes are burning.

Deanna brings their hands up and her fingers sweep gently across Cas’s cheeks and Cas registers the wetness. 

“I don’t-” she starts with a gasp, “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Deanna says gently. “I just want you to finally know. That I love you. More than anything I ever thought I could love. And I want to take you to the dance. If you’ll have me.”

Cas squeezes Deanna’s hands and makes herself look into her eyes. She looks close to crying too and Cas’s throat constricts again and she ponders how the happiest moment of her life can come with so much physical pain.

“I love you too,” she says, maybe a little too loud considering how close they are, but her body won’t let her announce it any other way. “I love you. For so long. And I-I’m-”

It’s like she’s trying to say too many words at once so she decides to just let her heart speak for her instead and she leans forward and presses her lips to Deanna’s.

The kiss is shaky and tastes kind of salty. But Deanna returns it with just as much care, releasing Cas’s hands to wrap around her waist and hold her close. 

Neither can say how long the kiss carried on but eventually they come up or air, resting their foreheads together. Cas’s hands clutch at the lapels of Deanna’s suit jacket and she grins when she sees the lipstick smeared around Deanna’s mouth. She brings her thumb up to wipe it away and Deanna grins, making Cas laugh. 

“This feels like a dream,” Cas whispers.

“Feels better than that to me,” Deanna murmurs back. She pecks Cas on the lips and looks over toward the school. “We should probably go to the dance now before everything shuts down.”

Cas nods and releases Deanna’s suit. She lets her hands run down the front though, finally taking a good look at her friend. It fits her perfectly, the jacket stopping mid-hip and the pants slimming so they’re tight at her ankles. 

“Are you wearing heels?”

Deanna grins and takes a few steps back to give Cas the full affect. “Hell yeah, don’t they make my legs look great?”

Cas can’t disagree as she lets her eyes roam freely.

“I could say the same to you, sweetheart,” Deanna says, and Cas looks up to see Deanna studying her in the same appreciative fashion. 

Cas’s face feels hot but instead of hiding it she reaches for Deanna’s hand and gives a gentle pull. “Come on. I want to go show you off.”

“Oh, hell yes,” Deanna growls and follows.

To say they’re the talk of the night is an understatement. The second they enter the gym with their hands clasped together, the murmurs start up. And when they walk onto the balcony Deanna built to have their photo taken, they can feel the eyes on them, watching closely. Deanna has a sneaky smile that Cas finds questionable and she starts to say something when Deanna puts an arm around her waist and dips her, lips coming together. And it’s not shaky this time.

She comes to to the sound of applause and it mortified to find her classmates clapping for them. Deanna laughs and tightens her hold. “I guess we weren’t the only ones waiting for us to get our shit together,” she says in Cas’s ear.

They move to the dance floor and it feels perfectly natural for Cas to take Deanna into her arms and sway. They hug, they kiss, they whisper, and they laugh, and everything around them falls away until it feels like it’s just the two of them dancing in the center of the universe.


End file.
